Your Views: Entire Fourth Ward mourns loss of Sterk

The Fourth Ward lost another great one with the passing of Mike Sterk last week. He was a longtime member of the Fourth Ward Committee. He had an intense dislike for bad landlords and drug dealers. He worked diligently to remove them from our neighborhood. Mike was a major supporter of the Janesville police and displayed his support for them on his front door.

Mike was always up front with you. You never had to wonder what he was thinking. He told you! He also was a generous man who helped his neighbors and friends when they fell on hard times. He would take them to the grocery store and buy a carload of groceries.

He never wanted recognition for what he did. Knowing he’d contributed to restoring the Fourth Ward or helping someone was reward enough for him.

Mike often wondered, while sitting on his porch, why people he didn’t know would wave to him as they drove by. He wasn’t aware that new residents already knew who Mike Sterk was.

The loss of Mike Sterk leaves a void in his family, his friends and his neighborhood. But he left us with a message of how important it is to help others and contribute to making our society a better place in which to live.